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It’s been a bit of a whirlwind weekend for my pal, Mickey Mouse, as he’s been celebrating a very special anniversary – it’s 90 years since Mickey first appeared in Walt Disney’s iconic cartoon, Steamboat Willie. This weekend was also pretty special at Disneyland Paris, because as well as celebrating Mickey’s 90th with a celeb-filled party, and an enormous cake baked by Pastry Chef and Chocolatier Pierre Hermé, there was a special celebration to mark the opening of Disney’s Enchanted Christmas. If you’re thinking of experiencing a magical Christmas at Disneyland Paris, I’ve teamed up with Isango.com, the specialist retailer of tours, experiences and Disneyland Paris Tickets to bring you all the latest news this holiday season.

In all the years that I’ve been visiting Walt Disney World, there’s been one iconic Disney place that I’ve never managed to visit: Celebration, Florida: the prettiest little community, and Walt Disney World’s home town. With wide streets and colourful shops and houses, it’s a really lovely place to spend a day, wandering the lovely, tree-lined residential areas (there’s actually a Wisteria Lane there that looks like it’s straight out of Desperate Housewives), and popping in to all the lovely shops (there’s a fabulous dog shop there selling everything you could possibly need for your pampered pooch!). Here’s my photo diary of our day: a little taster of what to expect when you visit Celebration.

If you’ve ever been to Walt Disney World, I think you’ll agree that one of the highlights has always been the wonderful ‘Wishes’ show at the end of the evening, with fireworks lighting up Cinderella Castle, accompanied by beautiful Disney songs. As soon as the sweet voice started singing ‘star light, star bright’, the goosebumps would start and by the end I’d generally be blubbing (I know, but it’s so beautiful). Unbelievably, the Wishes show has been a family favourite since something like October 2003 and is definitely a bit of a Disney institution, so the brand new show, Happily Ever After at Walt Disney World had a lot to live up to.

And so, after my big 2016 roundup, let’s move swiftly on to 2017, shall we? What does this year have in store? Lots of happy times and adventures I hope. As you know, I’m a huge Disney fan: I adore everything from the theme parks to the beautiful cruise ships. It’s such an exciting year for Disney magic, with so many new Disney travel adventures to choose from. I thought you might like a sneaky peek at a few of the things I’m really looking forward to in 2017. So if you’re planning adventures for next year now, I hope this helps give you a few ideas too:

This weekend, I travelled up to Leeds to meet up with two of my original Disney friends, Laura and Erica, for #eatLeeds2016 (we love a hashtag) – a weekend discovering the best food and drink the city has to offer. After a bit of a false start – I got on the wrong train – I was ambushed at Leeds station with bear hugs and squeezes, and we caught up over lunch at one of Laura’s favourite tapas restaurants, La Rambla (more of this later).

Calling all Disney fans! English Mum has teamed up with London Designer Outlet (LDO), London’s only outlet centre located in Wembley Park, to offer the chance to win family tickets (for two adults, and two children) to Disney on Ice at The SSE Arena, Wembley, on Saturday 16thApril at 7pm. Enter below for a chance to join Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse commemorate 25 years of Disney on Ice along with everyone’s favourite Disney characters!

Recently, I was lucky enough to take a special, if rather cold and rainy, trip to Disneyland Paris for a sneaky peek behind the scenes of the brand new show, ‘Disney’s Forest of Enchantment: A Disney Musical Adventure’. You’ll probably remember that this summer, the boys and I were at the park to watch the Frozen Summer Sing-along, and this brand new show will take over at the Chaparral Theatre until 8th May, when Frozen Summer Fun will return.

Last week, I was in Orlando (and the Bahamas!) with my gorgeous niece, Amy, trying out the fabulous Disney stay and cruise package. We’ve recorded a fantastic video for you which is coming soon, but until then, here’s our week in pictures, and lots of reasons why we thought Disney stay and cruise was the perfect holiday!

I wonder if it’s really true that time passes faster as you get older? I’ve been looking back at some of the amazing adventures I’ve been lucky enough to experience this year, and they seem like only yesterday! Here are my highlights from 2015.

It’s been a busy few weeks! I’m in Barbados at the moment, and before that, after heading down to Kent and spending some time at the lovely Goudhurst Inn, we were in Dover for a wander around the refurbished (re-imagineered in Disney speak) Disney Magic. The Disney Magic is the original (and best, in my opinion) Disney ship. It was Disney Cruise Line’s first ever vessel, and it’s regarded very fondly by Disney cast members and fans everywhere.

Ah, meetings. Inevitably I get invited to quite a few, but when an invitation pops into my inbox to come to a meeting AT A GORGEOUS HOTEL AND SPA? Well, naturally, I’m all over it. So this is how I came to be enjoying the gorgeous spa at Pennyhill Park in Surrey. The lovely chaps at Kissimmee, Florida, invited me and a few fellow travel folks to The Spa to hear more about the area and meet with some of the representatives from the area.

Port Canaveral, Disney Cruise Line’s home port in Florida, is based about an hour from Walt Disney World Resort (you can book transfers when you book your Disney cruise, and if you’re going straight from Orlando Airport to your Disney ship, your luggage will be whisked straight to the ship while you board one of Disney’s Magical Express coaches).

For me, this year has been all about Walt Disney World, and in particular, Disney’s Frozen. So when it came to decorating my Christmas cake, I knew it was going to have to have a Frozen theme. I’d seen the sugar glass (or ice) a few times on Pinterest but they were always American recipes and involved corn syrup and, frankly, unless you’re Buddy the Elf, it’s unlikely you’re going to come across this on your travels. I was worried that substituting golden syrup would taint the colour but it didn’t seem to at all (obviously if you’re aiming for clear ‘glass’ then this recipe won’t work for you’). I used colouring paste, but liquid will work too. These gorgeous little cake toppers are from Cake Decorating Store, as are the cutters. I cut out the ‘frozen fractals’ from leftover icing (sticking them on with a dab of boiling water) but decorate however you want, or just leave it plain and sprinkle with a bit of glitter (I love glitter).

There’s nowhere guaranteed to make me feel more Christmassy than a Disney park. Disney do Christmas so well, with twinkly lights, garlands and a 24m high Christmas tree (decorated with over 1000 decorations and 500 light bulbs) and, my favourite touch, snow fall on Main Street, USA (which always makes me cry). As an added bonus, this year, Disneyland Paris will be celebrating with the cast of their blockbuster movie, Frozen.

Our lovely visit to Walt Disney World in Orlando seems such a long time ago now. I’m already pining for the sunshine, for Anna and Elsa, and, more importantly, all that amazing food.

Once upon a time (see what I did there?) I think most people thought that all you could probably eat while you were at Walt Disney World parks and resorts was junk food, or maybe Mickey-shaped ice creams. Now, people are starting to realise that Walt Disney World features some of the best dining in the world, whether you’re after a snack, quick-service, grab and go option, or proper fine dining with table service.

One of my absolute favourite adventures while we were in Walt Disney World was a special, money can’t buy visit to Chef Jeff, Executive Chef at Disney’s beautiful Contemporary Resort, one of my top five Walt Disney World resort hotels. Chef Jeff and his team are responsible for all the patisserie for the resort, from gorgeous special occasion cakes, to the wonderful cupcakes available in the café.

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